Church, sheriff team up to help inmates' kids

The Church of the Assumption in Franklin and the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office have partnered for nearly 25 years to deliver gifts to the children of inmates in the St. Mary Parish Jail.
The Advent Giving was completed Thursday with the delivery of the gifts to local children by Sheriff’s Office personnel, including Sheriff Blaise Smith.
Elaine Theriot, who coordinates the project, said that through the Sheriff’s Office, the names of inmates’ children — ages 0-12 — are gathered as well as an idea of what they would like for Christmas.
Then, parishioners of the Church of the Assumption step in.
“Right after Thanksgiving, we hand those names out, and the people buy the gifts for the children,” Theriot said.
The gifts are returned in the first or second week of December where they are organized and bagged before being delivered by the sheriff’s department.
Theriot described it as a great feeling participating in this project, explaining it is helping those who may not receive something for Christmas otherwise.
“It’s a very touching experience, I find, and the congregation must think the same because they’ve been doing it for so many years,” Theriot said, noting that nearly the same families have been participating through the years.
In a Facebook post about the project, the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office said that in as difficult a year as this has been, it can be even more challenging to give gifts with a loved one incarcerated.
“This ministry of the Church of the Assumption is a heartwarming way to reach out to people and let them know that they are loved,” the Sheriff’s Office Facebook post said.